Posts Tagged ‘CSX’
Disfunction Junction
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A gorgeous spring-like day saw a humble narrator walking all over Pittsburgh, as detailed in last week’s posts. The end of my longish scuttle occurred, and I settled in at an often visited brewery which is located along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and the ‘Colors Park,’ where outdoor seating and active railroad tracks used by the CSX outfit are found.
I’m very fond of this spot, as it’s a grade crossing (the tracks intersect with a local street) with signal alarms that alert you when a train is nearing, and thereby you have ample warning to get into position and frame your shot. Also, there’s beer.
Choo Choo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One ended up having more than one glass of beer, I’ll confess, and it was dark when I set out for the T Light Rail station to acquire a ride home. I was testing out the ‘fail zone’ of a newish 50mm f1.8 lens on this leg of the day, I should mention.
The 50mm lens is pretty bare bones, electronics wise, and doesn’t offer ‘image stabilization’ technology inside the housing. My camera has an internal sensor based stabilization system, which gives me about three stops of wiggle room, but when I attach a stabilized lens to the thing I get an amazing eight stops worth of mechanical assist. The lack of stabilized glass on the thing caused me to throw away a few train shots, which just weren’t sharp enough to ‘make the grade.’
I made a mental note about sticking with my stabilized f1.8 35mm, or 85mm f2, for handheld night shots like the one above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back home in Dormont some five miles away, and just as I was leaving the T Light Rail station, a Pittsburgh bound T train set was seen leaving the station. Couldn’t resist.
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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Pittsburgh Parade
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
More than once, I’ve described the POV above as being ‘magic’ except for the empty railroad tracks. This time around, I got lucky and a CSX train entered the frame, shortly after I had walked over the Fort Pitt Bridge which is the golden colored span in the shot. They take their city color branding pretty seriously out here in Pittsburgh, all the way to dressing the cops up in black and gold.
This was captured close to the end of a medium sized walk, but I sure wasn’t done yet as it was a positively gorgeous spring like day – weather wise. Everything is starting to bloom here in the Paris of Appalachia, as a note.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was so pleased with the situation that the need to go wide angle overwhelmed. There was still a mile or two in front of me before I could declare the day’s goal accomplished, but that’s always the case – ain’t it? Nothing’s easy.
The train moved on, and so did I. I had already decided to visit that brewery I like which is alongside the same CSX tracks pictured above, and grab a pint of Pilsner – strictly in the name of hydration, I assure you – before returning to the T light rail which would bring me back to HQ where Our Lady of the Pentacle and Moe the Dog awaited.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Moe, for those of you who have asked, has matured nicely and acquired a beginners kit of domestic manners. It’s been a long while since his puppy incarnation was wreaking havoc and biting me in the crotch, thankfully.
After debarking the bridge’s pedestrian pathway, one navigated to a primary arterial street called ‘West Carson Street’ whose somewhat terrifying sidewalks led me to a spot where I could hop a fence and access the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which follows the Monongahela River’s southern shoreline.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lucky day for me. A Tugboat appeared, which was guiding barges of (presumptively) coal up the ‘Mon’ river, and under the bridge I had just walked over, with downtown Pittsburgh serving up a back drop.
I’m continually surprised at how much maritime traffic you see on the rivers here. I was also surprised to see that this boat was configured as a harbor style pushboat tug, rather than as a river Towboat, with the latter typology far more commonly observed here than the former.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
With winter ending, and spring starting to spring up, I’m looking forward to hiking in natural settings again. This sort of thing isn’t terribly productive from a photography POV (look, it’s a tree), but natural surfaces and paths through wooded areas are still quite novel to this kid from Brooklyn’s Canarsie.
As a note: I always say ‘Canarsie’ because people are somewhat familiar with that ‘area.’ My actual Brooklyn neighborhood – believe it or not – was called ‘Futurama,’ which is literally right next door to Canarsie. It’s nestled between ‘Old Mill Basin,’ ‘Georgetown,’ ‘Flatlands,’ ‘Glenwood,’ and Canarsie – Futurama is. If you’re not from there, these places aren’t on your radar, at all. My high school was found at the front door of Canarsie (Ralph and Flatlands Avenues), and most of my high school friends were ‘Canartians.’ South east Brooklyn was an odd place to live in the 1980’s.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One followed the trail, to his glass of beer at that brewery alongside the CSX tracks which has often been mentioned here. I met up with a friend whom I haven’t seen in a few months, and wouldn’t you know it… Choo Choo…
More on that next week – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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I spy, with my little eye…
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Walking over the Fort Pitt Bridge spanning the Monongahela River, here in Pittsburgh, and on one of my many constitutional walks – a humble narrator was feeling a bit ‘meh.’ The part of me that somehow misses NYC was issued a ‘shut the hell up’ order by my internal judge and jury after returning back to the nest at the beginning of February, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t miss my friends and a certain waterway.
Truth be told, what I really miss was the easy familiarity of the place which I enjoyed through long habitation. One never had to wander too far before something cool was in front of the camera. Sunnyside Yards, Newtown Creek’s industrial zone… heck, when I was bored or feeling a bit sore I’d just go ride the 7 train and crack out a few shots of the trains coming and going at one of its stations.
Most photogenic subway line in NYC, I always said.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pittsburgh is great, mind you, but I’ve had a frustrating couple of months due to the winter weather coupled with an onset of various physical maladies – like arthritis – that limit what I can do during the extreme cold and wet season. Now that’s it’s warming up again… well… it looks like I’m going to have to order another pair of hiking boots as I seem to have shaved about a half inch of the sole away from the pair I’ve been using, just in the last few weeks. My shoe brand is Merrell, if you’re wondering. Used to be sneakers, but I’d wear out a pair of Nikes in about three weeks and soon find myself scuttling along on bald treads. I get about 6-7 months out of a pair of Merrell’s.
The shot above looks back at where I’d been. Foreground is occupied by the Fort Pitt Bridge, which is also depicted in the first shot. Way in the background left area is the Fort Duquesne Bridge which was discussed earlier this week. About a half to 3/4 of a mile behind that is the T light rail station where I started this particular walk. About 400 miles beyond the horizon is the Empire State Building.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The span above is the West End Bridge, which I frequently cross both on foot and in the car. The presence of a CSX train set on that curvilinear track is something I’ve been hoping to see for a while now. Even better news is that the train was being held in place, which I was able to discern by reading the lights on those signal posts. A rapid bit of scuttling ensued to an opportune spot, as there’s a shot which I’ve been desirous of collecting in that particular location.
More on all that tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Diesel
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lucky, lucky. While walking the last third of a constitutional walk on a chilly afternoon, a second CSX train appeared while I was on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail here in Pittsburgh. That’s the Fort Pitt Bridge behind it, if you’re curious.
CSX #845, I’m told, is part of General Electric’s ‘Evolution Series’ locomotive line – a model ES44AC-H locomotive. Read all about it here, nerds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was actually quite cold out by this time of day, with winds kicking up and temperatures falling. Funnily enough, not 36 hours later, the temperatures would be in the middle 70’s with extremely pleasant conditions. They all told me when I was talking about moving out here – in Pittsburgh, if you don’t like the weather, just wait about 20 minutes and it’ll change.
Saying all that, I wasn’t properly insulated and despite the exercise, a humble narrator was growing a bit chill. it probably had a lot to do with the actual drop in temperature and upscaling of the wind, but there you go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was getting close to the end of this particular walk, which offered two cool views of train traffic up, so I considered it a ‘lucky’ day.
Too often, my rail timing is off and all I get to see are empty tracks. I’ve got to resume my vigil at Seldom Seen Greenway soon, and wait out the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR’s schedule until I get a desired shot there. I’ve made multiple attempts, but no bueno.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
‘Effin Pittsburgh, yo
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as I arrived at a series of ‘Bernie Holes,’ found in the fencing on Pittsburgh’s West End Bridge which overlook the CSX tracks along the Ohio River, a train set appeared. The locomotive engine was CSX #6348, an SD40-2 type built by General Motor’s Electro Motive Division. That’s literally all I can tell you about the thing, as I continue to refuse to ‘nerd out’ about trains.
Really, I just like taking pictures of the things, which I find fairly challenging. Something moving at 20-40 mph that’s bigger than most houses, which just sort of randomly appears… that’s a difficult photo. I guess I’ve been preparing for this sort of scenario with all of those subway posts I used to do back in LIC for a while now.
BTW- How’s that all that going these days, New Yorkers? I’ve seen the news about the Governor sending the National Guard in. Tell me in the comments, I’d love some ‘personal experience’ perspectives on the presence of long barrel military guns being brandished about down below.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks back along the West End Bridge span I’d just walked. This isn’t a hard walk at all, I’d mention, but driving over this bridge is actually fairly challenging. Narrow – in the extreme – travel lanes, and you have to be in the correct lane for your destination on the other side, I’d offer. The amount of gouging into and transferred auto paint on the bridge’s concrete sections speaks to the driving challenge. Tight fit, this.
Also, as a note… ‘Bernie Holes’… are gaps found in fencing that would otherwise occlude a desirable point of view. Some of these are surveyor’s holes, which are discernible by the fact that the fencing was cut with a power tool. My old friend Bernie Ente, who introduced me to the Newtown Creek community and acted as a mentor when I first turned up on the creek, had created a series of these apertures all over Western Queens. He made me privy to many of their locations, and long have I thereby referred to them as ‘Bernie Holes,’ although the ones here in Pittsburgh were obviously not created by him. They do use his preferred pry bar and spring powered vise grip methodology, however.
For those of you reading this who were members of ‘Team Bernie’, hello again old friends.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The train lumbered along, and the towboats were changing shifts. This one looks up the Ohio towards the Monongahela River. The plan at this point was to walk eastwards, in order to get back to a T station and home to HQ after my short walk.
Simple pathway, this. After debarking the bridge, I’d walk about a half mile, where the entrance to the Three Rivers Heritage Trail is found. An easy walk is found on the trail, which offers quite photogenic sets of circumstance along the way. This has become one of favorite paths here in Pittsburgh. By ‘easy,’ I mean flat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, something about this abandoned automotive service building, constructed of corrugated steel, intrigued me. The moss on the roof was calling, I guess. Imagine that, this has to be the most hostile environments that a plant might nestle into. Griddle hot in the summer, undertaker’s slab cold in the winter. Nature always wins.
One negotiated his way down a couple of flights of stairs from the West End Bridge, whereupon I needed to find a place to take a tinkle. Another sign of age which I’ve had to deal with – other than the various aches and pains which I bitch about endlessly – is that as soon as I start exercising the kidneys kick into high gear. This is a good thing, obviously, but it gets a bit problematic when you are walking over a bridge or something.
Luckily, right alongside that steel building pictured above is a fairly private area with lots of shrubbery. These plants were watered, thereby, with my personal liquor.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After obliging these biological imperatives, one continued along with the photowalk. The view was pretty epic from my pee spot, as it turned out, and I waited around to see if another train might be fixing to cross my lens but there was no such luck.
I hate ‘hanging around’ and waiting for something to occur. It’s a ‘photowalk,’ not a ‘photo stand around and wait,’ after all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last look back at the West End Bridge, and then to the east did a humble narrator scuttle, which will be described in a subsequent missive.
As a note – I’m still re-listening to the History of Rome podcast mentioned last week, and I’m pretty sure that the story of Marius and Sulla was what was being discussed on this afternoon. It’s a very long podcast, by the way, and highly recommended. Caesar is coming.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 